Cambrex to acquire Avista Pharma Solutions for $252M

The East Rutherford-based maker of pharmaceutical ingredients said the deal will allow it to enter the early stage small molecule development and testing services market.

Avista, a contract development, manufacturing and testing company, is a portfolio company of Ampersand Capital Partners, a health care-based private equity firm. It offers API and drug product development as well as CGMP manufacturing, microbiology testing and solid state sciences.

“We are excited to announce our acquisition of Avista, which further rounds out our small molecule service offering by adding a full complement of early stage development capabilities for both API and finished dosage form as well as comprehensive analytical testing services. The addition of Avista further underscores our commitment to providing the broadest possible range of world class services to our global customer base,” Steve Klosk, CEO and president, Cambrex, said.

“This acquisition opens up an exciting new segment of the market for Cambrex and brings a large number of new customer relationships to Cambrex. These new relationships will provide cross selling opportunities for Cambrex’s API and finished dosage form services, and will significantly increase the funnel of molecules that may advance to commercial status, where Cambrex has always excelled,” Klosk said.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.

“This transaction affirms the reputation that our dedicated employee base has established as a trusted early stage CDMO with a track record of world class customer service, technical expertise and strong growth,” Pat Walsh, CEO of Avista Pharma, said. “We are very excited to be joining the Cambrex team and believe the growth synergies as a result of this combination will be significant.”

Under terms of the deal, Avista’s 330 workforce will join Cambrex’s 1,700 employees throughout the United States and Europe.

Avista has approximately 400 customers and operates four facilities in Durham, North Carolina; Longmont, Colorado; Agawam, Massachusetts; and Edinburgh, Scotland.

Wells Fargo Securities LLC will serve as the financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP will serve as legal counsel to Cambrex. Bourne Partners will serve as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP will serve as legal counsel to Avista.